mindfully doing the laundry today

God is in the details.

-Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe

I am looking at the piles in the laundry room. There is a lot to do. It takes a lot of time — time that I could be doing other things. I could be working on my book. I could be trying to set up more writing workshops for the summer. I could be weeding my garden. Instead I am doing laundry. There is a lot of laundry.

I read a story once about a religious brother who was assigned to kitchen duty. At first he was not all that happy about it. It was not the job he had envisioned for himself when he dedicated his life to the service of God.

It’s understandable. Imagine entering the path of vocation—you are ready to do something amazing in celebration of the Lord. You study theology, you pray, you meditate, you deny, you dream. The day comes when your assignment is to be given – the role you will play in building the kingdom of God is to be revealed. You are inspired, you are passionate, heck—you-are-pumped… and then you find out that YOU get to do the dishes. Yea, disappointed is understandable.

In the end though – he found grace in the assignment because he viewed it not as doing dishes, but as serving the Lord. He wasn’t just schlepping through the dishwater blues – he was working to keep and create a home and he did his job mindfully – seeking God in all of it.

I hang on tight to that story on days like today. There is not always a lot of glamour in the everyday stuff of home keeping. But God is here. There is grace here – the bathroom soap, the flower garden, and the books on my night stand. They are reminders that I am a work in progress. Piles of laundry are not what I am; instead they are what I am called to do today because I have been trusted to care for and love 8busyfeet.

So I work my way though it all, trying to be mindful that “God is in the details” and it’s my job to pay attention to those lavender-scented-sun-dried details today.

If you want to read more about Living An Authentic Life – check out Melissa at the Inspired Room.

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Of course I’m worried but…

Okay, so it’s my birthday, the snow if falling, and Grace is taking a nap – seems like a good time to ignore work and write for fun.

I found this really wonderful quote that is meaningful as I begin my “happy year” journey… “In my life’s chain of events nothing was accidental. Everything happened according to an inner need.” – Hannah Senesh

The first part of the statement accurately describes my own life experience. I sometimes think about God with a huge story board trying to figure out how he is going to get everyone to the people they have been sent to know and then to do the things he knows we will do. I am left with the feeling that he must have been in a creative mood when he mapped things out for me. Just knowing that it took multiple generations of friends, an adoption, and an out of state wedding to put Tim and I into the same place seems more like a scene from “When Harry Met Sally,” rather than anything that happens in real life.

As I watch the snow fall and enjoy the busy sound of birthday wishes arrive in my e-mail box and the occasional telephone call, I realize for the second time since Christmas that there are so many people who have intercepted my life journey- each for a reason – each a God given gift. I much prefer this reminder to last week when I watched Tim say good- bye to his Dad. However painful, I did come away from that day feeling blessed knowing that neither of us are at all alone in this world and truly enjoying the idea of how much Tim is loved.

However, today I am struck by the second part of the quote. The idea that things happen because of an inner need, leads me to ask –“just what do I need?” – Especially in terms of being happy.

I think that can be answered by realizing what I have lost in the past few years. The other night Tim asked me if I thought life would ever be as perfect as it was in early 2001 and instantly I knew why had chosen that time. We had just had Cole, my Dad had beat cancer, we both loved our jobs, and we just felt nothing but joy about where our lives were going.

Since that snapshot moment there have been lots of changes – some good, some not so good. But the thing that strikes me is that I have lost the intangible feeling of contentment – the ability to stop wishing away time until things are better, but instead loving the way things are right now.

Unfortunately, there is a laundry list of worries that cloud my mind these days making it hard to see the sunshine. I think that comes with the territory of being a mom, a daughter, a granddaughter, a niece, a cousin, a sister, a wife and a friend who tends to feel things as deeply as I do.

Honestly, if you are reading this, then most likely you are someone who I am worried about. Please feel special about that, but also know that while I still care very much, I am going to work on trusting that things today are exactly the way they are supposed to be, everything is going to be okay, I can acknowledge my “inner need” to be content, and that it’s alright to go ahead and feel happy. Well – that’s a little harder than it sounds – but I guess I am going to go ahead and work on it…

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